Inside Putin’s ‘ghost’ train: A lavish spa, anti-ageing machine and more

Russian president Vladimir Putin is a secretive man. His life has always been shrouded in mystery but the war in Ukraine has made the 70-year-old even more paranoid. He is terrified of being assassinated and avoids travelling by aeroplanes, say reports. So how does he get around? On an armoured train, known popularly as the “ghost” train since it can’t be found on any railway timetables or the public system.Putin uses the train to travel inconspicuously around Russia, a fact that is well-known. The Kremlin has in the past released images of meetings held on board while the president is in transit. Little was known about the railcar other than the fact that it has 22 wagons and an ornate boardroom until now.Photographs and paperwork obtained by London-based Russian investigations group the Dossier Center reveal more details about Putin’s famous “ghost” train, which he uses to travel between his palaces.Also read: Superyachts and jet with gold toilet: Just how rich is Russia’s Vladimir Putin?Rs 610-crore luxury train The train was completed in 2018 and work on it was undertaken in coordination with the Federal Security Service (FSO), the organisation that is in charge of Putin’s security. Production of the train cost about $74 million (Rs 610 crore) and the annual maintenance comes up to $15.8 million (Rs 130 crore), according to the Dossier Center, which is backed by Mikhail Khodorkovsky, an exiled former Russian oil tycoon turned Kremlin critic. The cost is borne by the country’s taxpayers.The carriages are heavily armoured and the doors and windows are bulletproof. The train is stocked with life-saving drugs. Several of the cars on the presidential train are filled with communication systems that ensure that Putin is connected and remains informed about events even while he is on the go.“The armour doesn’t cover the whole train, but rather parts,” said the report. With Level III+ armour, the protected parts of the train can withstand shots from an AK-47 or an SVD rifle. The wagons also have loopholes to return fire.[caption id="attachment_12855342" align="alignnone" width="640"] The secret train that Putin travels in looks ordinary from the outside[/caption]‘Sports health wagon’, spa and moreBut that’s not all. Putin, before the war in Ukraine, portrayed himself as a macho leader, often photographed with guns and riding horses, flexing his muscles. It comes as no surprise then that the train has a “sports health wagon”. In 2018, the luxurious gym was equipped with Italian-made Technogym weights and resistance equipment, which was later replaced with machines made by a US-based company, reports CNN with whom Dossier Center shared the documents.The train also comes with a spa on wheels and a Hamman, a Turkish bath with a fancy shower that has an “aroma foam mode”, costing millions of dollars. There is a full cosmetology centre on board with a massage table, and high-end beauty equipment, including a radio-frequency machine to boost the tautness of skin, say the leaked documents. No listening devices can be used in this room.The train also carries “anti-ageing machines” along with a lung ventilator, defibrillator, and a patient monitor.“The sports car allows the president not only to travel in comfort, but also to take care of himself. Inside there is a beautician’s office, a gym and even a hammam, and if required, this car can save a person’s life. So, in the cosmetologist’s office, medical equipment is installed,” the leaked document read.While it train looks fairly regular from the outside, inside it is ostentatious. It has lavish bedrooms and ornate dining cars.“It’s not a simple luxury, it’s a super luxury,” said rail expert Dmitry. “A shower, a full-size toilet, a phone, a gigantic Panasonic TV, DVD, and VHS players — just to name a few. Everything is finished with natural wood, some State symbols are present.”The train is also reportedly getting an upgrade. It will include a train cinema and a health carriage, yet another indication that the Russian president might be ailing.Putin’s secret travels There is no indication that the train exists. It does not show up on any transport system. The windows are covered and the wagons have no numbers or identification.Putin is known as “The Chief Passenger” of the train. He uses it to travel to the Valdai Palace which he shares with his partner Alina Kabaeva or his Black Sea retreat. Special stations have been built at locations which are important to the Russian president including his main Moscow region residence Novo-Ogaryovo.Since the beginning of the war, the train has been parked near Valdai for long periods. Those working on the train are quarantined before a journey.[caption id="attachment_12855352" align="alignnone" width="640"] A gym inside Putin's luxury train. Image courtesy: Zircon Service materials/ Dossier Center[/caption]Gleb Karakulov, a former engineer and captain in the Russian Federal Security Service, who defected from the country last year, said that Putin has increasingly turned to train travel as a way to maintain secrecy and avoid being tracked, according to CNN.“The plane, as soon as it takes off, it immediately crosses flight radar. The train, it is used in order to somehow hide these movements,” Karakulov said in an interview last December.However, the train has not gone unnoticed. “There is a ghost train on the railways of our country. It is not in the timetables or in the Russian Railways systems,” a trainspotter wrote on rutrain.com.The Kremlin insists that no such train exists. “President Putin does not have such a car in his use or in his ownership,” it told CNN denying the findings of the Dossier Center.With inputs from agencies